Have you heard of Artist Trading Blocks?  These ATB’s are full of possibilities that let you create 3D!  This 15 blog hop will show you just some of the possibilities.

How’d I make that ATB?  It’s a die designed by Eileen Hull for Sizzix that will released in January.  You can see more ATB’s on their website here.

It was so easy to use StencilGirl stencils on it since it is wonderfully flat.   I put a random assortment of stencils all over it, added a touch of rubber stamping, and then white washed it all with gesso.  Just a bit of doubled sided tape and it was a perfect cube.

Once I had the box finished I attached the body parts.  The legs were made with another Sizzix die, the Garden Fairy.  The head and arms were doll parts I’ve had in a drawer for too long.  The ATB character needs a name.  Love to hear your ideas!

This blog hop has awesome giveaways.  One lucky winner will receive a Sizzix square box die (3 1/4″ block) designed by Eileen Hull, a package of matboard, Mary Beth Shaw’s NEW book Stencil Girl and (4) 4″ x 4″ stencils!  Best part, you get 1 entry for every blog in the hop that you comment on by Friday, December 13th at 11:59PM Central Time.

Then there are more giveaways…I’ve got four 4×4 stencils from StencilGirl that I am giving away.  It’s a surprise which four.  I’ll draw randomly some time on Sunday so get your comments in before then.  There might be other bonus giveaways so be sure to check out all the blogs in the hop!

• StencilGirl Talk
• Eileen Hull
• Mary Beth Shaw
• Linda Cain
• Janet Joehlin
• Pam Carriker
• Carolyn Dube – You are here
• Johnnie Lanier
• Linda Kittmer
• Leslie Tucker Jenison
• Kirsten Reed
• Marjie Kemper
• Mary C. Nasser
• Amy Bowerman
• Maria McGuire

I had some very old, and not cool vintage old, Christmas decorations.  The tired, worn out, and just plain uninviting decorations had to go.  I looked at new ones but nothing spoke to me.    So, I decided to add some color by spray painting Christmas decorations with Liquitex spray paints.  No priming, no nothing.  Just took the spray paint right to those old cheap wreaths.

I painted these all last year and did not post photos because I wasn’t sure if the color was going to hold up to the outdoors. Not only did it hold it’s color the entire holiday season, when I pulled all the wreaths out this year they looked as bright as last year.

This angel was cheap, plain, and boring.   Once I spray painted her she was awesome, playful, and fun.  No priming involved.  I just spray painted right on her plasticly polyester type fabric and trims!

I did however cover her hands and head so that my overspray did not recolor her skin to alien green or Smurf blue by accident…

These fun Christmas lights were just the shape I wanted but the colors did not match everything else.  Not a problem!  I primed the plastic with BIN  which is a super primer that sticks to anything- truly anything.  I I buy it at the hardware store.   Then I just spray painted them.

The giant light up bulbs and the angel can be plugged in and lit up but I find that with the spray paint on it that I don’t like how they look glowing.  Bonus- one less thing to plug in at night and we don’t have to pay for electricity for them either.

I must confess I was a bit unsure how it would all turn out when I started spray painting Christmas.  But with spray paint I was able to bring back to life an attic full of outdoor decorations.  Saved me a ton of money instead of replacing them!

Have you entered the giveaway?  There’s still time to get in for Kiala Givehand’s Mixed Media Inspiration Deck!  

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